Ana Gallardo lives in the apartment complex in Puerto Alcudia where there was a fire last week. Her apartment is directly below the one that caught fire. It was affected and she was denied entry for five days until it was safe to return. Over that period, she says she felt "abandoned" by Alcudia Town Hall and the local police.
The fire broke out around 1.15pm on January 14 for reasons that are still unknown. Ana was on the mainland at the time. As soon as she heard the news, she returned to the island immediately, as did her daughter, who was in Germany.
She explained that her situation was difficult and that she is "afraid" because she was a victim of gender-based violence at the hands of her ex-husband, who has a restraining order against her. She is the sister of Laura Gallardo, who died as a result of gender-based violence in 2008.
When she arrived on the island, she went directly to the police: "I went to the station and only encountered rejection; they didn't help me at all. They told me to fend for myself." Faced with the refusal to provide assistance for the five days she was unable to enter her home, she went to the town hall: "When I arrived, they were holding a council session. I started, how can I put it, speaking very loudly. As they weren't interested, an officer called me over and said let's go to the house."
It wasn't feasible to live in the apartment because of a high concentration of carbon dioxide and water leaking in from above. She has complained about the lack of support for her and her daughter: "They wouldn't give me anything to eat or temporary accommodation, nor have they offered me any psychological help." Finally, and after a great deal of insistence, she was given accommodation in a hostel for five nights.
She owns the apartment and is critical of the owner of the apartment that caught fire. "I think the fire was caused by poor maintenance. I’ve lived here for 20 years and I haven’t seen him do a thing. We have a lot of dampness coming from his apartment, but he never wants to do anything."
She had been warning for some time that "a tragedy" was going to happen, and that she informed the president of the residents' association about the neglect of the apartment. "I’ve been telling him for ages, but he’s never listened to me. They’re racist towards us because my ex-husband is Muslim."